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Former Cafaro headquarters to go to auction
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
The Cafaro Co. has entered into an auction agreement to sell the land, building and contents of its former Youngstown headquarters.
The auction on the location at 2445 Belmont Ave. will be hosted in mid-July by Ten-X, an online real-estate transaction marketplace.
“At this point [the Cafaro Co. is] contractually obligated to go through with the auction,” said Anthony Cafaro Sr., the now retired former head of the company. “This is strictly an internet auction.”
The minimum bid on the site is $1.5 million.
Ten-X will work with local broker Edward J. Lewis Inc. on the sale or lease of the property.
The southern half of the former Cafaro headquarters was built in 1965 and the northern half was built in 1980, according to an Edward J. Lewis flier on the building obtained by The Vindicator.
The building, about 44,000 square feet, sits on 3.59 acres. There is parking for 130 employees and 22 visitors.
On May 31, the 200 employees of Cafaro relocated to a new, three-story, 50,000-square-foot headquarters located inside the Cafaro-owned Eastwood Mall Complex, at 5577 Youngstown-Warren Road in Niles.
Cafaro Co., a retail development company with properties throughout the U.S., has been based in Youngstown since the 1940s. The company announced in late 2014 it would relocate to Niles. The move was expected to take place in 2015, but construction took longer than expected.
The headquarters offers more space, more technology and more light.
The design was made to make the work environment more pleasant with stand-up desk options and state-of-the-art phone and data systems to do live meetings.
Cafaro said he would like to see a local company move into the former Youngstown headquarters.
“I would prefer it because it would be probably be better for the community,” he said.
The Vindicator reported this week that the B.J. Alan Co. was considering the property for a new headquarters.
The B.J. Alan Co., a Youngstown-based fireworks company that operates Phantom Fireworks, has its headquarters in downtown Youngstown, but also has offices and a warehouse in Warren at the former Delphi Packard facility.
Bruce Zoldan, president and chief executive officer of B.J. Alan, could not be reached for comment.